European Working group " hot laboratories and remote handling" - plenary meeting 2002- Book of Abstracts

With a tradition of almost four decades, the European Working Group on "Hot Laboratories and Remote Handling" is firmly established as the major contact forum for the nuclear R&D facilities at the European dimension. The yearly plenary meetings intend to: - exchange experience on analytical methods, their implementation in hot cells, the methodologies used and their application in nuclear research; - share experience on common infrastructure exploitation matters such as remote handling techniques, safety features, QA-certification, waste handling, etc.; - promote normalisation and co-operation, e.g., by looking at mutual complementarities; - prospect present and future demands from the nuclear industry and to draw strategic conclusions regarding further needs. The main themes of the three topical oral sessions of the Mol plenary meeting cover: - nuclear transports: available transport containers, technical characteristics such as weight and shielding capacity, content specifications, hot-cell compatibility, regulatory aspects, accountancy of nuclear materials, licensing, legal matters such as insurance; - post-irradiation examination: updated and new remote techniques and methodologies, new materials such as inert matrix fuels and spallation source materials; - fuel back end and waste issues: hot laboratory waste characteristics and handling, spent fuel research.